GEC Partnership
Identifies Another HazardArco Pond
Found to Be Human Health Threat

The Glynn Environmental Coalition (GEC) was aware that subsistence
fishers were frequenting the Arco Quarry. Since the Quarry is located very
close to the LCP Chemicals Superfund Site, the GEC requested that the EPA
have the fish sampled to assure contaminated fish were not being consumed.
EPA refusal to test the fish led to the formation of a partnership with
local, state, and national health agencies to get the task done.

In partnership with the
Georgia Department of Public Health, with technical and funding assistance
from Glynn County Health Department and the Glynn Environmental Coalition,
fish tissue samples were collected from the Arco Quarry and analyzed for
mercury, lead and PCBs. Over the last century, areas of the Brunswick
peninsula and Turtle River Basin have been impacted by industrial operations
that released toxic chemicals into the environment. The Arco neighborhood is
one such area located adjacent to a former chlor-alkali facility, LCP
Chemicals, currently listed on the National Priority List (NPL), or EPA
Superfund list.

The Arco Quarry is a man-made
borrow pit dug in the 1970ís, which has since filled with water and evolved
into a recreational fishing site. The Arco Quarry is approximately six acres
in size and hosts a diverse array of both fresh and marine fishes. There are
visitors to the area, but most fishers at the Arco Quarry reside in the Arco
neighborhood.

Staff from the Glynn County
Health Department, the Glynn Environmental Coalition, and the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources collected representative specimens of edible
fish from the Quarry in spring 2005. Bluegill, Catfish, and Mullet were
caught and prepared for shipment. The samples were sent to the University
of Georgia Agricultural Services Laboratory for analyses. The objective was
to determine if fish caught from the Quarry contained contaminants at levels
of health concern for people eating fish from the Quarry, including
sensitive populations (e.g., pregnant women; children).

Fish testing did find PCBs and
mercury in the fish, and the results were sent to the Agency for Toxic
Substance and Disease Registry (a division of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services) for analysis and production of a formal Health
Consultation.

The Health Consultation was
released recently by the Georgia Department of Public Health, which has
determined that this site poses a public health hazard and people should
restrict consumption of certain species. Human exposure to contaminated
fish has occurred, is occurring, and may occur in the future. One
contaminant, mercury, is present in catfish and pan fish at levels that
suggest that pregnant and nursing women, young children, and women of
childbearing age should limit their consumption of these species.

Recently, a large area of the
Arco community was purchased by Georgia-Pacific Pulp and Paper, including
the Arco Quarry. The area has been fenced and much of the vegetation
cleared, which has blocked access of the subsistence fishers that most
frequently fished in the area.

While the GEC is not pleased
that the EPA refused to test the fish, nor that it took three years to
complete the Health Consultation, we have learned over the years that we can
form partnerships to get the job done when federal agencies charged with
protecting human health and the environment refuse to do their duty.

The Arco Quarry has been purchased by
Georgia-Pacific and fenced since fish were collected and analyzed for PCBs
and Mercury.